The aim of the study was to determine the associations between the quality of life and social and demographic factors in stroke survivors and control group.
Material and methods: The case group consisted of 508 inhabitants of Kaunas city who were aged 25-84 years and had survived a stroke. The control group included 508 age- and sex-matched inhabitants of Kaunas city randomly selected from the stroke-free population. The SF-12 questionnaire was used in the study. Quality of life in the physical and mental health domains with respect to social and demographic factors was analyzed.
Results: A significant inverse correlation was found between the evaluation of physical health and age in both the stroke survivors and controls (r=-0.34, P<0.05, and r=-0.64, P<0.05, respectively). The comparison of the evaluation of physical health between men and women showed that only in the control group, men demonstrated significantly better physical health than women (P=0.0005), while no statistically significant difference in this respect was found comparing male and female stroke survivors. Stroke survivors of Lithuanian nationality reported better physical health as compared to individuals of other nationalities (P=0.008). Both the controls (P=0.01) and stroke survivors (P=0.008) who were not living alone scored higher on the physical health domain than their counterparts living alone. Employed subjects - both the controls and stroke survivors - presented better evaluations of their physical health (P=0.005 in both the groups).
Conclusions: Quality of life in the physical health domain worsened with age both in the stroke survivors and controls. Both in the stroke survivors and controls, males and females with higher education levels, not living alone, and having employment demonstrated better evaluations of their quality of life in the physical health domain compared to those with poorer education, living alone, or unemployed.